In which I despair

At times, I am surprised by my own naivety. Despite all I have seen and experienced in relation to Cady there are still moments when I am left baffled, confused and hopping mad with rage.

The farrier had a look at her on Friday and dug out an abscess which was great. Now I know why she's been lame and she already looks better, though I think she's still a bit tender on that foot, unsurprisingly.

The tender foot is also not helped by the fact that she is a great, big fat pig at the moment. Last week I tried a grazing muzzle for a few hours a day but after two days she shook her head so much she came out in a sore.

So no grazing muzzle and horse still overweight. Fine. Kind yard owner said I could leave her in a stable a few hours a day and gradually bring her weight down.

So first thing Monday I went to bring her in. Except - no. Cady said "I am not going in the stable' and forty minutes of me ranting and raving did nothing to change her mind.

The best I could get was for her to sniff the area 10cm in front of the stable. Now I know a lot of knowledgable people out there are going to think "Well if you'd given her time to think about it she would have gone in" but I have learned from bitter experience that this is not the case. Cady will stand and sniff in a hopeful manner until civilisations have crumbled and oceans have dried up, without having any intention of moving a foot.

So after 40 solid minutes of wrestling I had to give up and drive to work late and, red in the face, furious and sweaty.

Bloody, bloody, bloody-minded witch - four years on and she won't walk into a stable. I know, from her point of view, it all makes sense, but it would be so amazing if we could do one small thing without a huge problem.

But I am bloody-minded too. So Gail Jeffrey, who helped me untold amounts when Cady was a bit younger is coming to help in the next few weeks. To show Cady I mean business I gave her a severe haircut last night. She looks bald and fat now.

Rodney is a big consolation, but has a hard lump on his near hind fetlock. It had gone down this morning so fingers crossed it's just a knock. He's had his headcollar off all week and been good to catch.

Happy horsing everyone x